Running Club
I'm still pondering joining a running club. This would be for almost purely financial reasons, the £2 off race fees and 10% off at running shops would probably pay for my membership time and time again. I'm unlikely to get to training sessions particularly regularly, but it would be kind of nice to be part of a club.
I emailed a local club to ask about joining, but the answer I got back seemed a bit patronising to me. Maybe I was just taking it the wrong way, I don't know. I explained where I'd got to with my running - that I'd run a half marathon, that I was at about 50 minute 10ks. I didn't expect that to be fast by running club standards (he said that about 70% would be faster than me, 15% about the same and 10% slower (I don't know what happened to the other 5%!)), but I thought that it showed a certain degree of commitment to my running.
So he replies and says that "you're probably running twice a week at the moment...". Erm no, I'm not. I'm running a lot more than that. And then he gives me advice on what training I should be doing. Which is fair enough, but I already have a training plan, but he's assuming that I don't and that I need his help. Maybe I'm just taking this the wrong way and I'm sure it was well-intentioned, but it just came across like "you're pretty slow so you can't be doing much at the moment and need my help". Whereas I'm actually amazingly happy with how I'm running and training at the moment.
Plus his email was very much emphasising the training session side of it, when I'd already said that I wouldn't be able to make them often. I don't care how good the sessions are if I'm not there, do I?
So then I started looking at online running clubs like Running4Women. Except on here there's the opposite problem. They have half marathon training plans. Including a sub-2 hour plan for "experienced" runners. The intermediate plan is for 2:10. I ran 1:55 for my first half marathon and am certainly not an experienced runner. The idea of a club with online support and training plans does appeal because I can use it in my own time, but I'm wondering whether there's anything in the subscription area that's more ambitious.
Ah well, I'll ponder it a bit more I think. I may yet plump for the real life people, but at the moment he's just rubbed me up the wrong way a bit.
I emailed a local club to ask about joining, but the answer I got back seemed a bit patronising to me. Maybe I was just taking it the wrong way, I don't know. I explained where I'd got to with my running - that I'd run a half marathon, that I was at about 50 minute 10ks. I didn't expect that to be fast by running club standards (he said that about 70% would be faster than me, 15% about the same and 10% slower (I don't know what happened to the other 5%!)), but I thought that it showed a certain degree of commitment to my running.
So he replies and says that "you're probably running twice a week at the moment...". Erm no, I'm not. I'm running a lot more than that. And then he gives me advice on what training I should be doing. Which is fair enough, but I already have a training plan, but he's assuming that I don't and that I need his help. Maybe I'm just taking this the wrong way and I'm sure it was well-intentioned, but it just came across like "you're pretty slow so you can't be doing much at the moment and need my help". Whereas I'm actually amazingly happy with how I'm running and training at the moment.
Plus his email was very much emphasising the training session side of it, when I'd already said that I wouldn't be able to make them often. I don't care how good the sessions are if I'm not there, do I?
So then I started looking at online running clubs like Running4Women. Except on here there's the opposite problem. They have half marathon training plans. Including a sub-2 hour plan for "experienced" runners. The intermediate plan is for 2:10. I ran 1:55 for my first half marathon and am certainly not an experienced runner. The idea of a club with online support and training plans does appeal because I can use it in my own time, but I'm wondering whether there's anything in the subscription area that's more ambitious.
Ah well, I'll ponder it a bit more I think. I may yet plump for the real life people, but at the moment he's just rubbed me up the wrong way a bit.
posted by YP at 7:17 AM
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